Sarah Sofie Mortensen (born 9 May 1997) is a Danish professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Cockburn Cougars Cockburn Cougars is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Cockburn Basketball Association (CBA), the major administrative basketball organisa ...

of the

NBL1 West NBL1 West, formerly the State Basketball League (SBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Western Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Western Australia partnered with the National Basketball L ...

. She played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

and

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

. Mortensen is a member of the Danish national team.

Early life and career

Mortensen hails from

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, Denmark. She played two seasons for Falcon in the

Dameligaen The Kvindebasketligaen is the premier championship for women's basketball clubs in Denmark. It was created in 1971, and it is currently contested by eight teams. It was known as Dameligaen until 2021-2022 season. The champion qualifies for the nex ...

in 2013–14 and 2014–15. In 15 games in her second season, she averaged 18.1 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Mortensen moved to the United States in 2015 to attend

Long Island Lutheran Middle and High School Long Island Lutheran Middle and High School (commonly known as LuHi) is a Christian school, Christian college University-preparatory school, preparatory school in Brookville, New York, United States. It was founded and built in 1960 on a estate ...

Brookville, New York Brookville is a village located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 2,939 at the time of the 2020 census. History The geographic Village of Broo ...

. In her one season there, she led the school to the class AA state championship game by averaging 22.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.

College career

Mortensen played

for the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes, known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes, are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

from 2016 to 2019. She transferred to Villanova but sat out the 2019–20 season due to NCAA transfer rules. During her senior season in 2020–21, she averaged 11.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game for the Wildcats.

Professional career

Germany

Mortensen played for

TSV 1880 Wasserburg TSV 1880 Wasserburg is a German multi-sport club, best known for its basketball department. In 2017 its women's basketball team won its fifth national championship in a row and its eleventh overall. Titles * Women's basketball ** Bundesliga ***200 ...

of the German

Damen-Basketball-Bundesliga The Damen-Basketball-Bundesligen GmbH (DBBL) is a company founded in June 2001, which manages the first and the two second federal leagues of women's basketball in Germany. The shareholders of the GmbH are AG 1. DBBL, AG 2. DBBL and DBB. DBBL is ...

in 2021–22, averaging 11.0 points in 22 games. The following season, she played for Gisa Lions MBC.

Australia

Mortensen joined the

of the

in Australia for the 2023 season. where she averaged 24.7 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. She earned

All-NBL1 West First Team The All-NBL1 West First Team is an annual NBL1 West honour bestowed on the best players in the league each year. Under the State Basketball League (SBL) brand, a five-player all-star team was named every year between 2005 and 2019. On a few occasio ...

honours and was the league's leading scorer. She helped the Cougars win the NBL1 West championship.

Spain

Mortensen started the 2023–24 season in Spain with Cab Estepona of the Liga Femenina Challenge, where she averaged 5.0 points in 11 games. She left the team in mid December 2023.

Iceland

In January 2024, Mortensen signed with

Grindavík Grindavík () is a fishing town in the Southern Peninsula district of Iceland, not far from Þorbjörn, a tuya (a type of flat-topped, steep-sided volcano). It is one of the few towns with a harbour on this coast. Most of the inhabitants work ...

of the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild kvenna. In her debut, she scored 25 points in 27 minutes. In 17 games, she averaged 19.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game.

Poland

Mortensen joined

Katarzynki Toruń Katarzynki Toruń, known as Energa Polski Cukier Toruń for sponsorship reasons, is a Polish professional women's basketball club that was founded in 2005 in the city of Toruń. They play in the Basket Liga Kobiet, the highest competition in Pola ...

of the Polish

Basket Liga Kobiet Basket Liga Kobiet (BLK), officially known as the Orlen Basket Liga Kobiet (OBLK) due to its sponsorship by Orlen, is a professional women's club basketball league in Poland. It constitutes the first and highest-tier level of the Polish league p ...

for the 2024–25 season. In 21 games, he averaged 9.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game.

Return to Australia

Mortensen re-joined the Cockburn Cougars for the 2025 NBL1 West season.

National team career

Mortensen played for Denmark at the 2012 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship Division B and the 2013 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship Division B. In May 2015, Mortensen led the Denmark under 18 national team to the Nordic Championship, while being named the tournament MVP. Later that summer, she averaged 14.0 points and 8.4 rebounds in the Division B U18 European Championships. Mortensen played for the Danish senior national team during the 2019 FIBA Women's EuroBasket Qualifiers, 2021 FIBA Women's EuroBasket Qualifiers and 2023 FIBA Women's EuroBasket Qualifiers.

Personal life

Mortensen is the younger sister of basketball player

Daniel Mortensen Daniel Andreas Mortensen (born 21 October 1994) is a Danish basketball player for Grindavík of the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild karla and the Denmark national team. He played college basketball for Wright State University and Barry University. In 20 ...

References

External links

Villanova Wildcats bioMiami Hurricanes bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mortensen, Sarah 1997 births Living people Basketball players from Copenhagen Danish expatriate basketball people in Iceland Danish women's basketball players Grindavík (women's basketball) players Miami Hurricanes women's basketball players Úrvalsdeild kvenna (basketball) players Villanova Wildcats women's basketball players 21st-century Danish sportswomen